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Third paragraph —the characters.
220. Summary of the Characters. The models given below show two methods for writing a brief of the characters in a book ; namely, one in which all of the characters are mentioned by dividing them into groups, and the other in which a short account of only the leading characters is given. MODELS I. "The characters in her Eliot's books, as we have noted, are not photographs or sketches taken in a single pose or moment of time; they are souls developing and transforming amid the tortures of the inquisitorial chamber of experience. In Silas' Marner we can divide these persons into three groups : first, the upper circle of village gentle folk, the Cass family, the Lammeters, the Gunns,—the people, that is, who give the social standards ; then the group of village gossips and wise¬acres: the plain folk who haunt the Rainbow Tavern, Mr. Snell, the landlord, Mr. Macey, Mr. Tookey, and Mr. Dowlas ; and last of all, Silas Marner, living for the most part by himself, his solitude broken, however, by the coming of Eppie and the religious consolations of Dolly Winthrop. The reader should study Silas Mar- nee s misanthropy, Nancy Lammeter's prudence, Eppie's sunbeam witchery, Dolly Winthrop' s faith in the unseen Providence, and Godfrey's lack of courage when facing the consequences of his own acts." "The characters of the 'Lay' are, with one or two exceptions, mere lay-figures; with the characters of the 'Lady of the Lake' the case ts very different. The three rivals for Ellen's hand are real men, with individual¬ities which enhance and deepen the picturesqueness of each other by contrast. The easy grace and courtly chivalry of the disguised king, the quick kindling of his fancy at the sight of the mysterious maid of Loch Katrine, his quick generosity in relinquishing his suit when he finds that she loves another, make him one of the most life-like figures of romance. Roderick Dhu, nursing darkly his clannish hatred, his hopeless love, and his bitter jealousy, with a delicate chivalry send¬ing its bright thread through the tissue of his savage nature, is drawn with an equally convincing hand. Against his gloomy figure the boyish magnanimity of Malcolm Graeme, Ellen's brave faithfulness, made human by a surface play of coquetry, and the quiet nobility of the exiled Douglas, stand out in varied relief. Judged in connection with the more conventional character-types of ‘Marmion,' and with the draped au¬tomatons of the 'Lay,' the characters of the 'Lady of the Lake' show the gradual growth in -Scott of that dra¬matic imagination which was later to fill the vast scene of his prose romances with unforgettable figures." "When a writer calls his work a romance,' writes Hawthorne, 'it need hardly be observed that he wishes to claim a certain latitude, both as to its fashion and materials.' This fashion is shown by the dimly outlined characters in 'The House of the Seven Gables.' The old spinster, full of a dreary family pride, yet preserving in her withered heart a warm devotion to her unfortu¬nate brother, is the spirit of the ancient family in its decay, rather than an actual inhabitant of Salem. All her material surroundings—the aged elm and musty house, with its memories of former stateliness, even the dwarfed hens in the neglected garden—harmonize. Into this atmosphere of dreary decay enters Phoebe,— the spirit of normal health and bloom. Phoebe, also, is no more defined than the faded Hepzibah ; she is a beautiful angel of hope and joy. Moreover, Clifford, the delicate, sensitive lover of beauty, who, without the power to resist his awful fate, brings from his imprisonment an enfeebled intellect, is another spirit of decay. Perhaps Jaffrey, the embodiment of the evil characteristics of his race, is more nearly individualized than any other one of the group. Yet his 'sultry' smile, his gross self-satisfaction, which the romancer makes us feel whenever he appears, typify universally the coarse, hard soul of the successful sinner. Of the minor characters, Uncle Vedder is a charming package of humble philosophy, while Holgrave stands apparently for the new democratic ideals in conflict with decaying family pride. His marriage with Phoebe, the fresh flower from the exhausted race, provides an appropriate conclusion." Exercises I. In which of the above models are all the leading and minor characters mentioned? In which only the leading ones ? Show that the first sentence in each of the above paragraphs describes, if only in a general way, all the characters. Prove that the last sentence summarizes or gives the reader a sense of finality. What expressions in each of the models enforce the thought of the topic sentence with which each is introduced ?